With all the Indian Institutes of Management planning to join hands in the wake of the government rejecting IIM-Bangalore's proposal to set up a campus in Singapore, HRD Minister Arjun Singh says that these prestigious B-schools cannot establish campuses abroad 'as of now.'
"There is no provision in their memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish brick and mortar campuses abroad as of now. If this is amended they can do so," Singh told television channel NDTV.
Reacting for the first time after his ministry turned down the proposal, he said these institutions were run on MoU and they were entitled only to tie-ups on research activities.
"Under no circumstances -- not even in the least -- have I ever interfered in their autonomy," he said, adding that he had only said these institutions must also enable poor students to get in.
Referring to the charges that his ministry was trying to kill the IIMs from going global, Singh said these institutions were not 'companies floated by anyone and these are set up by the state.'
Observing that hundreds of crores (billion) of rupees of investment, both capital and recurring, had gone into them, he said in the last two to three years the institutions were making some money through various projects and therefore they have corpus.
"So they are not independent floating companies who are free to do whatever they like," he added.
A delegation from Singapore led by former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, which was in Ahmedabad on Sunday last, said the Indian government's recent decision to not allow IIM-B to set up campus in Singapore was a 'loss' to India.
The IIM-B's ambitious plan got a jolt on January 11 when the Union human resource development ministry denied permission to the prestigious business school to set up a campus in Singapore and asked it to first cater to the demand at home considering the huge demand-supply gap in IIM seats.
"Singapore is a hub for education and the institute (IIM-B) has a good reputation, so we are happy to welcome the institute," Goh had said, adding, "It is their (India's) loss. They could have made some money as well."
